Seanie Morris, STEM engagement officer, Laois County Council; Siobhan Grealy, STEM engagement officer, and Christine Collins, digital/broadband officer, Longford County Council; Antoinette Brennan, digital/broadband officer, Laois County Council; Kelley Keogh, STEM engagement officer, Westmeath County Council; Ray Bell, digital/broadband officer, and Dean Hodge, STEM engagement officer, Offaly County Council. (Photo courtesy of All-Ireland Community and Council (LAMA) Awards).

Westmeath County Council celebrate ‘National Impact’ win at LAMA awards

Published: Sun 15 Mar 2026, 7:02 PM

Westmeath County Council are celebrating after winning the National Impact Award at the LAMA All Ireland Community and Council Awards. The award was presented for their ‘Driving STEM in the Midlands’ initiative, which delivered in collaboration with Laois, Longford and Offaly County Councils, who were also present on the night to collect the award.

The Midlands STEM team have been recognised with several awards over the past few months.

The ‘Driving STEM in the Midlands’ initiative has been delivering and supporting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) programmes throughout the region, including VEX Robotics, Lego League, Scratch coding, Rocket Building, STEM Passport for Inclusion, the Dream Big programme, Microsoft Dreamspace and Microbits coding.

The programme aims to promote STEM, and improve digital skills, to support economic development in the midlands region, and strengthen communities through potential local job creation and cross-community engagement.

The STEM team support local schools with their STEM programmes, and work in the community, engaging with libraries, integration centres, broadband connection points, family resource centres, age-friendly groups, Men’s and Women’s Sheds and many more, while also working alongside businesses to ensure that the digital skills being developed are aligned with business requirements.

There was a record number of 533 nominations across the 31 councils, shortlisted to 137 projects in 26 categories, which were presented by Marty Whelan in this, their 20th year.

The National Impact Award was one of the most prestigious awards of the night, and highlights projects that are making a positive and lasting impact at a national level. It is a coveted award to win, and a huge recognition of the work taking place in the midlands through STEM engagement.